


The Heart of the Cards

by gay4tae



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alice as taehyun, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Fantasy, Fluff, Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, M/M, Magic, chesire yeonjun, coffee is the only thing running through my veins, king of hearts beomgyu, mad hatter hueningkai, no the title is not a yugioh reference, this fic is so fucking weird, white rabbit soobin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23012659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gay4tae/pseuds/gay4tae
Summary: Taehyun has come across many strange, bizarre, and questionable things in his life. But nothing could have prepared him for a snow-white rabbit who always seem to be in a hurry, or the obedient, soldier-like cards that paint and talk, or the insane, but somewhat, humorous mad hatter. And did that cat just…smiled?Whether this was a dream or not, Taehyun has never thought himself much of a hero. So how does he find himself having to save Wonderland from the notorious and maniacal King of Hearts?Somehow, somewhere, an unusual, extraordinary place called, Wonderland exists. And in Wonderland, logic cease to exist and time is a pleasant illusion.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin/Huening Kai
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	The Heart of the Cards

**Author's Note:**

> I should really update my other fics but instead I wrote this. Anyways, pls enjoy!
> 
> p.s. there will probably be some mistakes I made so I'll have to edit this chapter later when I have time, it's insanely late rn)

Taehyun is not crazy.

Or at least he’s sure of it. Maybe. Is he? Nope, no, he’s pretty sure of it. 

Taehyun might think he’s overreacting just a bit because everyone’s bound to eventually see a snow-white rabbit dressed in a raincoat, wearing a monocle, and holding a pocket watch once in awhile or every so often. Right?

And it’s totally not strange to see that same rabbit jump into a big, black hole on the ground and see more black holes later appear on the ground out of nowhere. Right?

When it happened the first time, Taehyun was walking down the school’s hall, heading towards his next class and spotted a strange rabbit. He tried to pick up the small, furry, fluff ball, but the rabbit quickly hopped away before it could be grasped in Taehyun’s approaching hands. As the rabbit ran off, Taehyun tried to follow the small creature.

However, as he turned the corner, an enormous hole was awaiting him and his soul nearly detatched from his body right then and there. 

However, the strange hole vanished as quickly as it had appeared causing Taehyun to stand there in momentary shock before he eventually snapped out of it and forced himself to continue down the hall. 

Maybe he should have informed a teacher or the school’s nurse about his recent weird occurences with an ominous hole that seemed to want to swallow him down its pitch black void, but he figured it be better to keep that information to himself. Perhaps he was hallucinating, is very likely the only answer he would get anyways. But that still wouldn’t be very helpful either.

If his family and teachers were to think he was having hallucinations, then that would surely cause many worried and troubled feelings and concerns to uprise about his mental and physical health. Because as far as Taehyun knew, he was healthy in all aspects, mental and physical-wise.

So why were these annoying, persistant holes appearing constantly out of nowhere throughout the day? When Taehyun was finally let out of school and arrived at his apartment, Taehyun nearly fell into another hole that appeared when the elevator door opened. 

Sighing a breath of relief, Taehyun closed his eyes for a moment. Today had been a very long and tiring day for Taehyun and these reappearing holes on the ground did little to take the edge off of him. Deciding to take the stairs up to his floor instead, Taehyun turned on his heels and his first step forward sent him plummeting straight down into a hole that had appeared once again!

Taehyun’s first instict was to scream. And scream he did. He yelled and screamed and slipped in a few words of profanities here and there until his voice became hoarse and strained, and he no longer sounded like himself. His limbs flailed and thrashed rather uselessly until his muscles sore and ached. Eventually his screams came to a stop and that was only because even after a full minute, he was still falling!

Taehyun quickly came to realize that with nothing much else he could do, he tried focusing on calming his heart down and taking a proper look around him. When Taehyun had finally calmed down, he realized that his fall was significantly slowing down than when he had previously been falling a minute ago. Now that he was falling at a much slower pace, almost as if time was in slow motion, he was able to properly observe this strange, mysterious hole he has fallen into. 

Although there wasn’t much of a difference in his surroundings, Taehyun could make out a vague shape of an object that looked to be a grandfather’s clock and he only catched a glimpse of it before he flew past it. Then, walls appeared all around him and hung on those walls were clocks that varied in all shapes and sizes, ranging in an assortment of different colors and patterns and designs. 

Suddenly, Taehyun started falling passed many more objects on his descent and his surroundings brightened up considerably, making it easier for him to see. This time, the objects were all random. Books, tables, flower pots, cups, glasses, candles and more. The objects were appearing in abundances that Taehyun had trouble falling without bumping into something and getting hit.

It was rather starting to become such an inconvinience that Taehyun had to resort to pushing and kicking away objects after objects in his path downward. Wherever downward led to.

Before Taehyun knew it, his feet gently touched the ground. He’s made it to the bottom of the hole!

However, Taehyun still wasn’t quite sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. And before he could ponder more on that matter, Taehyun noticed a door in front of him. Though, he nearly missed it completely as the door was actually quite small, it was about the size of his hand!

With hesistant steps, Taehyun stood in front of the abnormally sized door and knelt down. He tried pulling and twisting on the knob of the door, but it did not budge. Of course, it was locked. That’s when Taehyun noticed the tiny keyhole in the center of the doorknob.

Scratching the back of his head in curiosity, Taehyun pulled a troubled look on his face. Just then, Taehyun felt the urge to turn around and behind him all this time was a table with a plate that held a cookie and next to the plate was a tiny glass vial with a strange, unknown liquid inside. But more importantly, there was a key!

Jumping back on his feet, Taehyun approached the table and cautiously took in the treats that laid before him. The key was the size of his fingernail and Taehyun was very careful when picking it up, holding it in between his thumb and finger.

Taking his eyes away from the key, Taehyun directed his attention to the lonely cookie that was placed in the center of the plate. In front of the plate was a paper and on it read, _Eat me!_ In front of the glass vial was a similar paper reading, _Drink me!_

At this moment, a strange sense of familiarity took over him. Taehyun had this gut feeling that he was familiar with this situation as if he’ve seen this place before or have heard of it a very, very long time ago. 

Taehyun decided that he shouldn’t waste anymore time than he needed to, for he needed to get to the bottom of this situation as fast as possible so that he could go back home. Though, one could say he was already at the very bottom. Technically. Because he’s in the bottom of a hole. Duh.

From what Taehyun could tell, he either had to choose between taking the cookie or the vial. Seeing as he needed to somehow turn himself smaller so that he could fit through the door, Taehyun fairly assumed that one of these objects of consumption was the key to make his form shrink.

Unfortunately, Taehyun had no clue which of the two he needed to consume. After much debating by himself for over two minutes, Taehyun decided he was going to take a leap of faith and picked randomly. He first chose the cookie.

With one hand holding the tiny key and on the other hand, a cookie, Taehyun fearlessly chomped down on the edge of the cookie and experimentally chewed. The cookie wasn't awful, but it also didn’t have much of a taste to it either. Before he knew it, the cookie was no more and crumbs littered his hand.

Just as Taehyun grasped the glass vial that was slightly larger than the key in one hand and was about to take a sip of the unknown liquid, Taehyun began to notice something strange. The table in front of him had started growing larger and larger until Taehyun had to strain his neck up to see. Or...was Taehyun the one changing size?

To find out, Taehyun quickly spun around on his heels and the door was the perfect size for him to fit through! It seemed that he successfully shrunk. 

Taehyun rushed towards the door and when he looked down at his hands, he realized that not only did he hold the key, but he accidently brought the glass vial with him! To Taehyun, it made much more sense for him to bring the vial along with him than to throw it away, figuring that it might come in handy later in the future. And luckily, because the vial was so tiny, it was small enough to fit in the front pocket of his hoodie.

Tucking the vial in his pocket, Taehyun finally inserted the key into the door and within a few seconds of jumbling and twisting the key, Taehyun heard a faint _click_.

Pulling the key out of the door, Taehyun allowed himself a small, satisfactory smile and pulled opened the door. Without thinking, Taehyun stepped into the other side of the door and was overwhelmed with a swarm of emotions.

His surroundings changed significantly from a small hole with walls and a door, to a wide land that stretched on for who-knows-how-far with tall, thick trees, wild bushes, and everywhere he looked there was green. Mountains could be seen farther away in the distance where the land met the horizon and various, colorful flowers and plants obnoxiously stood out with its vibrant hues and beautiful deep shades of colors.

Taehyun opened his mouth in awe, the same way he does when he finds himself unable to form proper words in his head and the best way he can express his amazement is through silently taking in the stunning scenery and landscape.

After coming down from his shock, Taehyun followed a dirt path that led deeper into the forest, hoping to find that strangely dressed rabbit that seemed to be in a hurry. The more Taehyun continued venturing into this new found, bizarre land, the more Taehyun started noticing the strange aspects of it.

Yes, this environment that surrounded him was a beauty that even mother nature would envy. But there was more.

Slowly, creatures of all kinds started appearing around him. First, there were hushed whispering that Taehyun heard come from the dancing flowers that seemed to be swaying to a rhythm. The next thing Taehyun saw were fireflies with wings that were literally on fire. One of them flew dangerously close to Taehyun’s face and Taehyun was quick to tilt his head slightly to the side, feeling the warmth of the firelies’ fire wings against his cheek.

Birds were the size of his eyeball, butterlies had bread for wings with a smudge of actual butter spread across their wings, and there were birds with a bird cage for a stomach with little birds in these bird cages. 

Because Taehyun was too enraptured by the oddness and interesting pecularities of the creatures around him, it was no surprise when Taehyun got easily distracted and soon lost track of the path he was originally on. Now, Taehyun found himself truly lost in the middle of a strange forest he knew nothing about. 

Taehyun abruptly stopped walking, turned back around, and began walking in the opposite direction in an attempt to find the dirt path. Only after about half an hour later, Taehyun found no success and gave up trying to find the correct way back.

Taehyun was feeling overwhelmed with several stifling emotions again, but this time, these emotions weren’t positive. Rather, Taehyun felt heavily frustrated and a sense of dread crawled along his shoulders and spread through his body like a sedative or slow posion of some kind. Next came the panic that was beginning to swell deep inside him from the possibility of forever being trapped in this strange land and never being able to return back to the real world. 

The last time Taehyun felt this physically and emotionally distressed was probably when he was five and got lost in a grocery market trying to find his mom. But he was no longer five. And he was most certainly not in a grocery market.

Taehyun found a slab stone that was placed conveniently not so far ahead of him and he took this opportunity to sit down on the stone and rest. To his annoyance, Taehyun could already anticipate the tears that were about to form in his eyes as he felt his eyes slowly start to burn and blur. With his head hung low, staring at his lap, Taehyun wanted nothing more than to go back home.

Suddenly, Taehyun heard rustling from behind then slow approaching footsteps. Quickly, Taehyun hastily jumped to his feet and spun around to see a boy who looked to be around the same age as him as well as the same height. He was dressed in a fine silk, black tunic and black trousers with long black boots. The boy wore a long, lavish, red cape that draped over his shoulders elegantly and clunged fittingly over his figure. If Taehyun looked closer, he could make out a subtle design of hearts stitched across the cape.

When Taehyun’s eyes finally began traveling upwards towards his face, he noticed that the boy had a particularly handsome face with youthful eyes that seemed to contain a twinkle of delight. His eyes then began wandering down along the slope of his perfectly straight nose and his gaze lowered even further to his plush-looking lips that was slightly curled into a heart-fluttering smile.

The stranger inclined his head a bit and spoke, “Back so soon?” 

“...”

Taeyun didn’t know how to answer to that. He wasn’t expecting that kind of question to begin with. 

“Do I know you?” he asked the mysterious, handsome stranger dressed in red.

Before the stranger could give a reply, another set of footsteps was approaching from behind Taehyun. Suddenly, cards flew around the boy’s body rapidly until Taehyun could no longer see the stranger at all. In the blink of an eye, the stranger had vanished, leaving only a trail of cards floating and falling towards the ground.

Taehyun blinked his eyes several times, trying to wrap his head around a person disappearing right before his eyes. Before Taehyun could try and make sense of what just happened, another figure emerged from the bushes and it was another boy!

This time, however, the boy was several centimeters taller than him and soft, delicate features adorned his face. His jet black hair contrasted starkly with his sickly shade of pale skin. When Taehyun took notice of his clothes, Taehyun recognized the red raincoat, the golden monocle, and the pocket watch held in the taller boy’s hand, and realized that this boy looked strikingly similar to the white rabbit he saw in the middle of the school’s hall.

Unlike the first stranger he had met, this boy didn’t take a single glance at him and it seemed to be because he hadn’t noticed Taehyun at all! 

With anxious eyes looking over his pocket watch, the stranger muttered, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late! Kai is going to kill me if I’m late again!"

And then the stranger took off again without ever noticing Taehyun’s presence. 

Seeing how the taller rushed off as if the world was coming to an end, Taehyun’s curiosity was piped and he wanted to know what’s got the white rabb—taller boy in such, such a terrible hurry. Also, it was better than sitting around and moping all day about being lost.

Following close behind the stranger, Taehyun and the taller boy speed-walked for quite some time before Taehyun was led out of the forest and into a wide, open area. 

In the center of this wide space was a long, wooden table that looked unsteady and fragile as if a kick to one of its peg would cause the table to collapse on itself. It was truly a miracle how all those teapots and teacups, plates and treats could all sit on top of the table and the table was still standing!

Taehyun stopped following the stranger and stayed back to watch the taller boy run all the way to one end of the table where another boy seemed to be sitting. Rather than sitting, this boy’s body was half sprawled across the chair in a languid manner with a top hat covering his face. His feet were plopped on top of the table and his arms rested behind his head. 

Taehyun watched as the taller boy poked the sleeping boy, trying to get him awake. He poked the side of his ribs and when that didn’t work, he started to poke higher and higher until-

“SOOBIN HYUNG! WHY DID YOU WAKE ME? DIDN’T I SAY YOU ABSOLUTELY HAD TO MAKE IT _ON_ TIME FOR THE TEA PARTY? WHY ARE YOU SO LATE?”

“YOU SAID THE TEA PARTY WOULD START AT _ANY_ TIME!”

“Really? I thought I said to come ‘on’ time.”

“Nope. You said to come anytime because ‘on time’ is also anytime.”

“That’s right, Soobin hyung! Next time, we should have a tea party at _no_ time!”

“Hmm," the boy—Soobin—looked like he was seriously pondering on something extremely important. "Would that still be considered anytime?”

“No time, anytime, on time, everytime, who cares! It’s not like time exists here at all AHAHAHAHAHHAH!”

Listening to these two boy’s conversation had Taehyun in shock and devastatingly confused. He was utterly lost, completely dumbfounded and speechless. All he understood from their words was that they were having a tea party and they seemed to throw frequent tea parties at strange times that made no sense to Taehyun whatsoever.

Taehyun looked around the table once more and saw that the only guests besides the tall stranger named, Soobin, were all stuffed animals! What’s more, the stuffed animals were moving and talking and being...alive!

Looking at such a strange and utterly ridiculous scene, one could almost faint, or laugh, from the absurdity of it all. Taehyun wanted to stare quietly at the scene in front of him for a little longer, but forced his feet to move towards the chattering table and towards the two boys.

When he approached the table, the plushies all collectively fell silent when they noticed an uninvited guest. However, the two boys at the far end of the table were too occupied debating over the physics of time and discussing the alternative origins of time.

Even when Taehyun stood directly next to them, the two boys were unaware of another person’s presence.

“Excuse me,” Taehyun tried to politely interupt.

Taehyun was ignored completely.

“Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but-”

The two boys only continued bickering and arguing over one another, ears falling deaf to a new voice and Taehyun has finally had enough of it.

Raising his arm, Taehyun reached towards the boy who now had the top hat fixed on top of his head and gently poked at his shoulder. He jabbed his finger harder to get his attention but the boy didn’t flinch or budge an inch!

Growing exceedingly frustrated, Taehyun had finally lost his patience and stormed over to the other end of the table. Clutching on to the two corners of the tablecloth, Taehyun pulled with all his might and all the teapots and tea cups went crashing to the ground. 

Although Taehyun only meant to pull the tablecloth out without pulling everything else down (a trick he learned but seemingly now forgot), he managed to grab the two boy’s attention and a look of shock and surprise were clearly displayed across their faces. 

Taehyun didn’t know what to expect but he certainly wasn’t expecting the boy on the chair to stand up and climb on top of the table. Wide eyes, Taehyun watched as the boy walked across the table without caring to avoid stepping on fallen tea cups or plates. 

When he stood in front of Taehyun, the stranger crouched down so that he was face to face with Taehyun. From this distance, Taehyun was clearly able to see what this boy looked like.

He was handsome, yet pale-faced, his smile eerie. His eyes were bright and wild, perfectly matching his curly, brown locks that framed his face messily. And his clothes... Taehyun wouldn’t be caught dead wearing whatever clothes the stranger was wearing.

Just when Taehyun was considering making a run for it, the corners of the stranger’s lips pulled into a twisted smile.

“You’ve finally returned!” the stranger said delighted and he turned his head around to shout, “SOOBIN HYUNG! IT’S TAEHYUN. HE’S RETURNED. TAEHYUN’S RETURNED BACK TO WONDERLAND TO SAVE US ALL!”

“How do you know my name?” Taehyun instantly questioned, deeply suspicious of the horrendously dressed young boy.

“Taehyun, everybody knows your name. You’re a hero,” he explained patiently.

Ignoring his last sentence, Taehyun asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m the Hatter, but of course, you can call me Kai,” the Hatter replied and after a pause, he spoke again, “Oh! That’s right, I almost forgot. Hahah, silly me!” Kai laughed uncontrollably, loud and clear with his full chest, sounding almost hysterical. 

Taehyun snapped at him, “What?”

Stopping his fits of laughter abruptly, Kai answered cheerfully, “Everytime you leave and come back, your memories of Wonderland are forgotten. You forget everything!” the Hatter smiled widely as if he just threw the best tea party in the whole wide world.

Taehyun couldn’t find the right words to say and could only continue to stare blankly at the young boy with wide, confused eyes.

“Oh! How rude of me. Although you’ve visited here many, many times before, I always have to properly introduce you again,” Kai waited for Taehyun to respond but when he saw that he was too frozen in a state of panic and horror, Kai continued, “Taehyun, welcome to Wonderland!”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So much weird stuff is going on in this fic but thank you for reading anyways! <333


End file.
